DOZENS of rail passengers were left stranded in Edinburgh on Sunday evening after five of the scheduled seven trains to Tweedbank were cancelled.

The much maligned Borders Railway has been subjected to regular cancellations over the past three years.

There were many complaints at the end of last week because of over-crowding on several journeys between the capital and central Borders due to a lack of carriages.

And furious commuters have hit out yet again as the unreliable service suffered its 'worst evening on record'.

As well three earlier trains on Sunday evening being cancelled due to 'staff shortages' the last two services - the 10.12pm and 11.11pm - didn't run either.

Simon Walton from the Campaign for Borders Rail told us: "Sunday schedule on the Borders Railway collapsed - with five of seven services from 1712 onward cancelled - including both late trains, making the last service 2112.

"This comes hard on the heels of crush overcrowding and assurances given to the Campaign by ScotRail Alliance that services would be more closely monitored."

The cancellations are blamed mainly on ScotRail attempting to train drivers and conductors following the late delivery of the new Class 385 engines and upgraded high-speed InterCity trains.

Although none of the new fleet will run on the Edinburgh-Tweedbank line, staff from the service are still being trained.

ScotRail did arrange for replacement buses to collect most of the passengers who were stuck in the capital.

A ScotRail spokesperson said: “We’re really sorry to our customers who experienced disruption on the Borders Railway last night.

"We done everything we could to keep people moving, which included arranging alternative transport.

“It has been a challenging time for Scotland’s Railway, but things are beginning to improve. More trains are arriving on time than ever before, and everyone at the ScotRail Alliance is working flat out to provide customers with the service they deserve.

“We are training more than 20 drivers and conductors every day, and this will deliver continual improvements in the coming weeks and months.”